Two Minutes
by Freedom-is-key
Summary: Two minutes. All it took was two minutes to destroy everything they had created together. Nickname: Character Death the Movie. Warning: Character Death R & R
1. Chapter 1

_**I do not own Hetalia.**_

_**I'm so sorry**_

* * *

><p>Two minutes.<p>

All it took was two minutes to destroy everything they had created together.

One faulty component out of hundreds was all it took to figuratively and metaphorically crash their dreams to the ground

Their loved ones were far away, in hotels, making coffee, watching T.V., drawing, drinking, not knowing, not knowing, not knowing.

That they would be ripped from them

Within two minutes

Two minutes.


	2. Chapter 2

Italy was in his hotel room, drawing a kitty, and wondering when Germany would get back from his little excursion to Croatia with Romano, England, and Hungary, when he got the call " Ciao, this is Feliciano Vargas. "(The countries tried to use their human names when answering unknown phone numbers) " Hello, this is Vienna General Hospital. There's...Been an accident, and you are the Emergency Contact for Ludwig Beilschmidt and Lovino Vargas."

" What?! What happened? Are they ok? Are you sure it's them? Dios mio dios mio." " Well..." The hospital operator hesitated" we need you to identify their bodies" His heart stopped. Germany and Romano dead? No, it couldn't be, it must be a mistake. Hospitals mix up bodies all the time! " So it might not be them" " It's possible, but" " I'll stop right over and solve this mess. Good bye!" He quickly grabbed a jacket and ran out the door, nearly laughing at how worried he was seconds before. He was completely in denial, and entirely unprepared for the rest of the evening.

America was drinking coffee, and kept glancing at the hotel clock. He didn't know when Britain would arrive, but he knew there was a meeting tomorrow, and he wanted to get some sleep. Different time zones always screwed Him up. He heard his phone buzzing on the counter. " Yo. This is Alfred" " Hello this is Vienna General Hospital. " Shit, What happened?!" " There was an accident, and you are Arthur Kirkland's Emergency Contact. We need you to come and identify his body." America dropped the phone. Everything around him stopped. The T.V., coffee maker, the street outside, all stopped. The only thing he could feel was his heart ripping in two as he knew he'd never see England , his England, his IGGY, again. " Sir? Sir? Are you there? Sir?" " I'm here." He said in a voice that was not his own. " I'll head right over." "Sir? I'm so sorr-" He hung up his phone, and dashed out of his room. As he ripped down the hallway, the only thought he had was how was he going to handle this. He knew what was to come, but was unaware of the other's pain to come.

Spain was flipping through the channels, waiting for his little tomato to walk into the hotel, probably complaining about the conference. The thought made Spain smile. He was torn from his thought when his phone rang. " Hola. This is Antonio." " Hello Antonio. This is Vienna General Hospital. You are the Emergency Contact for Lovino Vargas. There was accident, and we need you to... Identify his body. " Spain screamed in pain. While there was no physical pain per-say, he felt his soul rip in two .He had to know more. He had to. " Do you mean he's dead? What happened? Are you sure?!" The operator hesitated as she took in all the questions. " We are almost sure that it is him. He is deceased". " Dios. One last question. Does Ita- I mean Feliciano Vargas know?" It was Spain's last hope that it was all a big mistake. "Yes, he's also been contacted" Spain realized that all hope of seeing Lovi alive again was lost. Everything inside of him broke. He wanted it all to be a mistake, a ridiculous mistake. But he knew that it wasn't."Good bye. I'll be right over" He quickly grabbed his jacket and shoes and ran out the door with tears in his eyes. He knew the hardships to come, and unlike the others contacted before him, was aware that it was more than himself being affected.

Prussia was drinking beer and reading humor articles on the internet. He was wondering when Hungary would get back. He wish they had known when they were getting back. It was totally stressing the awesome him out. He heard his iPhone ring and he nearly jumped out of his skin. " Hallo, you've reached Gilbert." " Hello this is Vienna General Accident. You are the Emergency Contact for Ludwig Beilschmidt and Elizabeta Héderváry. " Oh Mein Gott.. What the fuck happened? Are they okay? Was any one else in the accident?" He felt his stomach drop. As Gilbert waited for the operator to reply, he realized his was shaking. " We actually need you to come identify their bodies. We will give you the details at the hospital. As for the others, I shouldn't be saying this, but Arthur Kirkland and Lovino Vargas were also in the accident. " Prussia's blood went cold. He just couldn't comprehend. He was the one that was slowly dying, the one they they would have to live without. He thought he'd never have to deal with a dead country again. He realized he was wrong. And he realized that they were dead. That he'd never see them alive again. " I'll be right over. Thank you for telling me." Prussia hung up, grabbed a jacket, and ran down the hallway, shaking even harder. Prussia understood that he was not the only one that was going to suffer, but that many, many others would as well.

Austria was in his house, playing the piano. The World meeting was in Austria, so he didn't have to stay in a hotel. His cellphone began to ring, disrupting his concentration. He was irritated for a moment, until he saw the caller I.D. and realized it was Vienna General Hospital. " Hallo, this is Roderich Edelstein. What's happened?" " This is Vienna Gen..." " Yes, I'm aware, what's happened?" " You are the Emergency contact for Elizabeta Héderváry, there's been an accident, and-" " I'm on my way." " Wait, sir, you need to know-" He had already dropped the call. He ran and grabbed his keys, on his way to a situation that was significantly worse than he thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to my friend who will not divulge me her fanfic username for revising and helping me with this story.**

Italy took the elevator down to the lobby, and hailed a cab. He wanted to get this mess over with as quickly as possible. " Vienna General Hospital, please"  
>" Alright, sir". He quickly settled in for the ride. Within ten minutes however, he received another call. " Ciao! This is Feliciano."<br>"Hey Italy it's Prussia. Did you..um...get the call about Germany and Romano?" Italy heard Prussia's voice crack. He must not know that it's all a mistake!  
>"Yah, I know about that! I'm on the way over there to sort out that mess! It's just a silly mistake" He heard Prussia take a deep, shaky breath.<br>" Listen Italy, the thing is, I think it might not be a mistake. I think it's true that it's them. " Italy couldn't believe what he was saying. Germany and Romano weren't dead. They couldn't be.  
>"If you say so Prussia!"<br>"How about this Italy. Why don't you just wait for me at the entrance, ok?" "  
>Okey dokey Prussia. See you there."<br>"Ja, see you there Italy." Prussia said as Italy hung up and sat back. Silly Prussia worrying about nothing. Everything would be just fine. But there was a piece of his mind that understood, that it really wasn't fine, and that it wouldn't be for a long time.

America ran down the stairs. He nearly fell, and he nearly ran into people, but he didn't care. He needed to get to the hospital NOW. He got to the lobby and ran outside. He stole a cab from another person. The person yelled in outrage, but the blonde didn't care.  
>"Vienna General Hospital. It's double if you get me there as quick as possible"<br>"Sir, are you alright? "  
>"I'm fine, just get there fast!"<br>"Yes sir." The driver said, starting the car. Alfred sat back, God he was exhausted. He focused on his breathing. He had to wait now. It was agonizing. He didn't notice his phone ringing until the cabbie mentioned it.  
>"Hello, this is Alfred."<br>"Hey, this is Prussia. I'm guessing from the sound of your voice you heard about England"  
>"Yeah, I did." America was struggling to keep it together.<br>"Well, it's the same with Romano, and" He heard Prussia clear his throat " And Germany and Hungary."  
>"Oh God. " He couldn't comprehend this. There was no way so many countries could be dead. This had never happened so suddenly before. Oh God this couldn't be happening<br>"I'm on the way to the hospital too. So are Italy and Spain, but, Italy's...In denial i think. He thinks it's all a mistake. This is such a fucking mess. Anyway, I was thinking that we should meet at the entrance. So we don't have to do this...Alone." Prussia faltered. The last thing America wanted to see was others being upset., but he wanted to be with them anyway. Hell, it might even make it easier to...do what he was about to do if someone was there with him.  
>"Yah, I guess Ill see you there. Bye." " Bye" America closed the phone. He wanted to escape so badly, but the only way was to go inside of himself, to shut his brain down. Which is exactly what he did.<p>

Spain ran down the stairs feeling the need to keep moving, so he could stop thinking, if just for a moment. But he couldn't. Antonio's heart kept beating his name. _Romano Romano Romano Romano_. Tears streamed down his face. He saw people staring, but he kept going. He ran down through the lobby, and sprinted down the street, until he found an empty cab. He was crying so hard that he could barely give the directions to the hospital. The cabbie turned around and looked him in the eye.  
>"Are you alright? Do you need me to call someone, or get help, or something?"<br>"I'm fine, I'm just doing...something at the hospital."  
>"Alright, I'll get you there fast" Spain failed to reply. He was still crying, and he was trying to calm down, but he couldn't. He felt his phone buzz.<br>"Hel-lo? "  
>"Hi Spain. This is Prussia. I'm just going to assume that you heard about Romano." Hearing Prussia's voice was a bit calming. Not much, but it helped to know Prussia was still there. Spain started to cry harder.<br>"I'm gonna make this quick, It wasn't just Romano. It was England, and... Germany and Hungary. I'm on the way to the hospital too. Meet me outside of he entrance, ok? Bye." Prussia hung up. Spain couldn't handle this. Not only was his Romano was dead, but his friends and colleagues as well? Spain knew everyone else would be crushed. He curled up in a ball, and began to sob. He sobbed so hard that he could barely breathe. He thought to himself, How will any of us make it through this?

Prussia ran to the elevator. He couldn't quite handle stairs like he used to be able to, and the elevator was faster any way. He ran to the car garage. Unlike, the other countries, he, Germany, and Hungary had driven the world conference. His hands were shaking so hard it took several tries for him to get the key in the ignition. He thought for a split second that he shouldn't be driving, but he pushed the thought away. Too late now. The albino got in and immediately called Italy. The guy was in such denial that he couldn't just let him go in there and see them alone. So he told him to meet at the entrance. Then he decided to call America he tell him the same thing. The call with America had almost been as bad as the call to Italy. America was always so...cheerful. It was so strange to hear him sound so torn up. So he just told him to meet him at the entrance too. When he called Spain, it was even worse. His friend was crying so hard it was hard to stay on the line. Prussia had made that call really short so he wouldn't have to listen anymore. He told Spain the same thing about the entrance, figuring that everyone would get there before him. Prussia couldn't help but think that he was forgetting to call someone. It was probably nothing. He cranked up the Oomph!( a German heavy metal band)in his car so he would be able to drown out his thoughts. It almost worked, too. But he still couldn't get rid of that thought that he was forgetting something very important.

Austria was silently cursing himself for living so far away from the hospital, and for not having stayed on the phone longer. It was stupidly impulsive of him to not learn what had happened or what Hungary's condition was. He wondered if anyone else would be at the hospital. Certainly Prussia, since she and Prussia were an 'item' so to speak, and probably Germany, since he was close to Hungary. He pulled onto the autobahn. Great, he thought. Lots of traffic. Exactly what I need right now. He turned in the classical music station, hoping that it would de-stress him. It failed miserably. " I sure hope she's alright" he said to no one in particular.


	4. Chapter 4

Italy arrived at the hospital. He payed the cabbie and waited at the entrance. He was surprised when a few minutes later he saw America get out of a cab and head over to the entrance. Why was he here? He wouldn't have been called about Germany or Romano!  
>"Ciao America! What are you doing here?" He asked. The blonde looked over at him, and Italy almost gasped. His eyes just looked so...blank. It was like he was mentally gone, like he wasn't really seeing anything there.<br>"Dude, do you not know?"  
>"Yah, the hospital made a crazy mistake and said something had happened to Germany and Romano. But why are you here then?"<br>"Something happened to Hungary and," America paused for a moment, " and England. So that's why I'm here. It's not a mistake Italy." The Italian felt worried for just a moment. What if America and Prussia weren't wrong? But that was silly. They were alive. They had to be. It wasn't possible for them to not be.  
>"Oh, ok then. " They awkwardly stood in silence for a few minutes. America was seriously freaking him out. He kept silently staring off with his eyes glazed over. Italy saw another cab pull up to the entrance. He was watching as Spain got out, and the cabbie patted him on the shoulder when he gave him the money. Why was Spain crying so hard?<br>"Ciao Spain. Let's get this crazy mistake over with!" Spain started crying even harder. America glared at him( At least he thought he'd glared at him. It was kind of hard to tell), and the blonde pulled Spain into a hug. Italy almost started talking again, but America mouthed  
>"Not now ". So he stood of to the side while Spain cried into America's shoulder. He saw Prussia's old car pull into the parking lot. He watched as the man got out of his car and struggled to take his keys out of the ignition. Once he had, the albino walked towards the rag-tag group, shaking and walking in an almost zigzag pattern.<br>"Ciao Prussia!"  
>"Hey Italy." Prussia waved halfheartedly. Italy wanted to know if he knew it was all just a big mistake. At the same time though, he didn't think he could handle being told it was real again. He watched as the albino greeted America and started to hug Spain. He saw as Spain curled into to him and started to cry slightly less.<br>"Alright," the albino started, looking to everyone in the group. "Are you guys ready to...go in?" It seemed like he trying hard to not lose it. America nodded.  
>"Yeah." Spain said, but everything about him seemed to scream that he wasn't.<br>"Let's go." the Italian replied. Watching them all, Italy felt a slight gnawing feeling in his chest that maybe something really was wrong. But everything was fine, it was a mistake, they were alive. They had to be. Without even realizing it, he was unraveling. "Ok. Let's go in."

Spain was walking into the lobby with the others. It was wide, with ugly white walls and an ugly green tile floor. At the end of the room was desk, and young woman with her black hair talking on the phone with someone at said desk. At the left end of the room was a big colorful fish tank, but he really didn't wanted to marvel at it. He was still crying so hard that he had to heavily lean on Prussia and America. He was worried about everyone. Prussia was shaking so hard that he almost thought he was having a seizure. America had a glazed look his eyes, and it was almost as if his mind wasn't where his body was. And Italy; he couldn't figure out what it was, but something was off about him. His face kept flickering; he would be smiling and then suddenly grimace, and go back to smiling like nothing had happened. They reached the front desk. Prussia went up to talk to the woman manning it. Seeing him approach, she set the phone down. Spain was glad he was the one willing to talk about it, he appreciated that man so much. Prussia was quite possibly the only reason any of them were keeping it together. Italy rocked back and forth on the heels of his feet before bouncing off to look at the fish.  
>"Hello, I'm Gilbert Beilschmidt, and this is Alfred Jones, Antonio Carriedo, and the one over there is Feliciano Vargas," He said, pointing to Italy. "We are here to...um.." The albino glanced back at his friends. Spain heard him lower his voice. " We're here to identify the bodies of Lovino Vargas, Alfred Kirkland, and...and...Elizabeta Héderváry and Ludwig Beilschmidt" Spain felt himself begin to cry harder. Damn, he couldn't stop crying. It was so embarrassing. The front desk woman called someone to come to the desk. It was a middle age man who came up.<br>"Hi, I'm Dr. Jakob Steiner. I'm going to take you to a room down the hall, alright? Just follow me. " The man was of average height, with a blonde bowl cut and glasses. He wore a white lab coat that looked a bit too long for himself. Antonio felt like he was walking to his execution. Italy saw the doctor, and sprinted back to the group. Were they going straight to the bodies, or would they be told what had happened? He cried all the more from the uncertainty.

America was in a daze as he sat down in the blue room. Everything, the walls, the chairs, even the table, was blue. A computer sat on the table along with a file, and multiple boxes of tissues. That's a bad sign. Four plastic chairs sat in front of the table. A stupid motivational picture of a boat hung behind the big chair that the doctor took a seat in. He drew a deep breath. The Doctor started.  
>"Alright, I'm going to explain what happened. Feel free to ask questions. Let me know if you need to take a break" The room was quiet for a moment, except for Spain's sobbing. He almost looked like sharing the story was causing him pain. "At 7:30 tonight, a small private plain crashed outside of Vienna in the countryside. No one else was hurt, but they found the bodies of Arthur Kirkland, Lovino Vargas, Ludwig Beilschmidt and Elizabeta Héderváry. We found their IDs, which happened to not be destroyed in the crash. They died of intense internal injuries. They most likely didn't even feel the impact. They had very little pain at the end of there lives. I'm so sorry for your loss." America heard the others gasp, heard Spajn cry even harder, if that was even possible and heard Italy asking questions to see if there was a way that they weren't dead. He saw Prussia wince. . Why couldn't he just not ask?<br>The doctor closed his eyes. "Mr. Vargas, there is almost zero possibility that they are alive. I'm sorry, but they are dead. " A dark shade came over Italy's eyes, maybe he finally understood what was going on. But them his eyes brightened again.  
>"Well, we'll jut have to check out this mistake then." Italy concluded. The doctor looked exasperated, but nodded.<br>"Are you going to take us to their bodies then?" The albino's voice was equally as shaky as his body was.  
>"Yes, I will. Follow me."The doctor stood, followed by the others. As America stood up, he realized something. He hadn't responded. He hadn't gasped, hadn't moved, hadn't cried, hadn't anything-ed. He knew he was sad, but he didn't feel it. Well, that's bizarre. And he silently moved down the hallway with the others.<p>

Prussia didn't want to see this. But he needed to. He was screaming at himself. He had tried to tell West not to take the stupid private plane, but he had anyway. If he'd tried just a little bit harder, they wouldn't be in this fucking mess and no one would be dead. Spain wouldn't be sobbing so hard that he had to basically carry him, America wouldn't be an emotionless zombie, and Italy wouldn't be in denial. None of this would have happened. They reached the door.  
>"I'm going to let the morgue assistant, Sophie, take over from here. I'm so sorry for your loss." And then the bastard left them. Wasn't he supposed to stay with them?! Prussia knew he was busy, but COME ON. Regardless, they were basically on there own now. They were guided to the tables covered with sheets. Oh Gott, there bodies were under those. Sophie and another man ( a lab tech he guessed) came over.<br>"We are going to pull down the sheets so you can see their faces. Are you ready?" He nodded. The others nodded as well. Sophie and the man pulled the sheets down.

Finally, Austria though as he pulled into the parking lot. That took ages. He parked, and walked to the entrance. He wondered if anyone else was there yet


	5. Chapter 5

Prussia saw the bodies, and promptly ran over and threw up in a waste basket. Oh God. He knew they would look bad, but he couldn't handle this. They were so pale in death, even paler than the albino himself, and the burns, cuts, and bruises on their faces clearly showed up against it. He knew they'd tried to wash there faces, but there was still flakes of dried blood everywhere, especially their hair. Oh God. It was like Holy Rome all over again. He'd had a second chance to be a better big brother. And he'd failed. This was so unimaginably bad. He looked over at his friends. America was slowly walking over to England, like he was in a dream. He started to stroke England face, no expression, except in his eyes. There was extreme longing in them, an almost obsessive look. Spain was staying back, looking like he was going to go up, but like he didn't have the motivation. And Italy opened his eyes. Oh God. Oh God albino nearly screamed " Don't!". Italy did not need to see this nightmare clearly. Then Italy started running, looking at each of the bodies, hyperventilating. The albino watched him as he looked at Hungary, her long hair choppily burned, at Germany, pieces of skin missing from his face and his hair completely out of place, at Romano, with his characteristic curl gone, burned or otherwise. He watched as he Italy put his hand out to touch them. He pattedHungary's burnt hair, then Romano's forehead and then Germany, stroking his cheek for a split second. And Prussia saw as the recognition that this was real, and not a dream, reached his eyes. Italy let out a blood curdling scream, and fell to the floor between Germany and Romano's cots, crying and screaming in a ball. He knew now. Oh God. He couldn't do this. He couldn't. And then Spain went up to Romano. He watched as he put his hand where the curl was, as if he was trying to find it. He watched as he touched his face. And then Spain bolted. Prussia almost called after him, but he couldn't. He was just sitting there on the floor next to a waste basket, away from all of the bodies, watching his friends fall apart. He knew deep down that he was too.

Austria entered the hospital, and walked towards the front desk. He was about to ask for Hungary, when he heard the scream. He knew it was Italy. He had heard the same scream when France told Italy that Holy Rome wasn't coming back. Oh God. He needed to find him. Why was Italy there? He knew that Hungary was like a mom to Italy, but what had happened to drag out such a scream from him? He started to run down the hallway, despite the front desk woman's attempts to stop him. He was running when he ran into Spain. What the HELL was going on? He fought to catch his breath. Spain was sobbing, so he led him to the wall to sit down. " Spain, what's going on? Why are you here? " Spain tried to tell him, but he was sobbing so hard that it came out in choppy bits. " Ro- Oma-no is...is.. dead" And everything became clear. He remembered Hungary telling him that she would be taking a private plane with Germany, Romano, and England. If Romano was dead that meant...Oh God. It couldn't be. The others were dead. Oh God. He had to make sure. " Spain, does that mean that the others are...?" Spain hesitantly nodded. He thought he had been sucker punched. His best friend, his close friend and relative, were dead. " Where are they?" Spain pointed to a door down the hall. " Ok. Stay here. I'll be back in a few minutes. Don't move". He continued down the hallway, and opened the door to the morgue.

Prussia heard the door open. He looked over to who it was. It was Austria. Shit, that's what he was forgetting. It was then that he became acutely aware that he was crying and on the floor in front of the wastebasket. In a different world and time he would be embarrassed. But not here and now. Austria walked over to the corpses. He watched as Austria's face crumpled for a moment, as a look of intense pain came on his face. He thought that Austria was going to lose it, and then they would be back at square one. Butt then the musician's face became calm and stoic. Austria turned towards the morgue assistants and said " My name is Roderich Edelstein. The bodies are correctly identified. I'm going to take them home now. Can you give us a moment please?" They nodded, and walked out of the door. " Wow. God job Specs." he thought. Austria was the Prussian's new hero. He felt him helping him off of the floor. . " Thanks." " I need to get all of you out of here. Being I here is not good for you. Go pull America away from...the body" The albino glanced over at America. He was still stroking the side of England's face. " I'll help Italy off of the floor. " He went over to America, and he pulled him away from the body, with him offering no resistance. Specs was standing Italy up, as they both walked to the door. " Wait" he called to Austria. " I need to do something real quick". He went over to Germany and Hungary and touched their corpses for the first time as he straightened Hungary's hair and slicked back Germany's hair. " They would have hated there hair like that. They were so freaking OCD about that" And he started to cry harder as he led America out of the room, following Italy and Austria, and as he left them.

Austria was forcing himself to keep it together. He could do this. He had to be the strong one for everyone else. He decided that he would take them back to his house. He went over to Spain, who had stopped sobbing. In fact, he added passed out. " Spain? Are you awake Spain?" " Dammit" he thought. "Guess we'll have to carry him home" He looked over to Prussia. " Can you carry him? You're pretty strong. " He could see the doubt in the Prussian's eyes, but he nodded anyway. Austria hated making him do it, but he couldn't do it, Italy couldn't, and he wasn't even sure if America knew what was going he and his motley crew of a sobbing Italian, a basically comatose American, a weeping albino, and a fainted Spaniard, walked out of the hospital. He could tell that it was going to be an even longer night. " Keep it together for them" he thought. Keep it together.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Forever thanks to KOMATHESOAP for reviewing this ( and sorry for posting the same chapter twice )**_

They were driving past inner Vienna, past blurring lights. It was slightly snowing. Austria had told that there had been lots of traffic earlier, but it had all cleared up. Italy was quietly sobbing in the back seat, but other than that it was silent. God, it hurt so bad. He just wanted to forget this, all of this, forever. Italy knew he'd screwed up, cause so much pain for everyone else, and it was all for nothing. He felt himself being lulled into the icy embrace of sleep. "Thank God." he thought, as he stop thinking and feeling all of the pain.  
>America sat forward, staring straight ahead at nothing. His brain was all fuzzy. He had...gone to the hospital. He had gone to that room with the...motivational poster. And then they had... And after that he couldn't remember. And now he was in Austria's car. He knew something bad had happened, but what? Was this what amnesia felt like? As the vehicle drove through the downtown of Vienna., Alfred saw a color in the window of some store. It was...green. A beautiful, familiar, jade green. Why was that familiar? He continued on this thought process, not knowing that it would destroy him.<br>Spain was blissfully unaware of his surroundings and current circumstances. He was in a warm, dreamless sleep, away from all of the hardship and anguish that he would face when he awoke. He would suffer then. But for know, he was safe.  
>Prussia was staring out the window staring at the snow, in an attempt to hide his tears from the others. Like that shit mattered anymore. He just couldn't deal with Austria's looks of pity. He sat in the front of the car with his off-again-on-again friend while the rest waited in the backseats. America to the left, Spain to the right, and Italy in the middle, his sleeping head on Spain's shoulder. The Spaniard too was asleep, propped up against the window with a blissful look on his face. The albino wished he could be as lucky. America, on the other hand, looked out at the landscape, eyes empty. Prussia wasn't sure what was worse: for America to be like that forever, or to be crushed when he finally crept out of his own mind. Gilbert glanced over at Italy. Huh, he thought. I didn't know you could sob in your sleep. He thought bitterly that he would be learning more about the constraints of crying the next few weeks. Prussia turned to Austria.<br>"Hey Specs." God his voice sounded awful. " They fell asleep." He watched as Austria quickly glanced back. Wow, he was really holding that steering wheel hard. Were knuckles really supposed to turn white?  
>"Yeah, I guess they are. We'll be at the house soon". He said curtly. Prussia nodded and closed his eyes. That's not soon enough he thought.<br>Austria clenched the steering wheel. He felt like he was going to lose it before they got to his house. But he had to be the strong one. Had to keep together. For God's sake, who else would be? Spain was unconscious, America was a zombie, Italy was asleep, and Prussia was already upset and crying. That left him. Dainty, girly, corset-wearing Austria. He looked at his white, tightly clenched hands. He would have loosened up, but that was slightly impossible at the moment. He watched as his neighborhood came into the view at the right. Almost home. Keep it together a little bit longer. He could do this

**Yeah. He actually wears a corset.**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Sorry about lack of update the last couple weeks. School was killer and I was out of town. I'll try to update regularly, but I make no promises. Thanks to all who have reviewed. **_

Prussia watched as they pulled in to the drive way. In any normal circumstances, Austria's house would be considered beautiful. It was a large white Victorian style house, with miniature forest and lake on the back. He'd been to his house so many times in the past. They'd always had a love-hate friendship. Of course, the thing that really connected them together was Hungary, and Germany to a certain extent. He started to cry harder again as he focused on them. God it wasn't fair. There were supposed to live without him, not the other way around. He wanted to scream, but he didn't want to wake Italy or Spain. Austria got out of the car. " Prussia, can you carry Italy in? I know your tired, but..." . "Yah, I got it Specs. " He did not want to carry him. He was so exhausted, emotionally from the evening, and physically from carrying Spain. Not to mention he still had a super intense tremor. But that left Spain. " Hey America?," The albino gently asked. "Can you carry Spain inside?" America didn't even turn to show that he'd heard him, but he unbuckled Spain's seat belt and picked him up out of the car. Prussia did the same with Italy, following Austria inside.

Austria ran around his house, opening up the guest rooms. He removed anything sharp (people could go crazy when in mourning), and wrote a note in each room. Hopefully the note covered all of their concerns. He ran back downstairs, and caught his breath. Then, he showed t the shaky and worn Prussian where to put Italy, and America where to put Spain. He tucked them in and left them a glass of water, along with some tissues, next to the bed. They all went back downstairs. " Hey Austria? You have any alcohol?". He heard the slightly weeping Prussia ask. " Yeah, I'll grab some". He grabbed some gin from his cellar,and came back to the kitchen He was already pouring and sitting at the table when he realized America was still staring at a wall in his kitchen. " America? Um...Are you going to bed? Do you want a drink or something?" The musician asked with concern. America turned spun towards him. Right before The blonde spoke, Austria realized that his eyes were bright and alive for the first time all evening. America replied to him in a voice as innocent as a child's: " I'll never see his eyes again". He watched as America promptly collapsed to the floor sobbing and cursing and screaming.

Prussia alternated between staring at Austria and America. What the shit was he supposed to do? He could tell be the expression on Spec's that he had no idea what to do either. He tried to rack his brains for what the hell to do. America, Denmark, and himself got together every once in a while for drinks and to discuss their awesomeness with each other. He remembered that once Denmark had mentioned loving something, and America saying that that something always made him feel better. What was it? He decided that for the short term he would just sit on the floor and hug him, saying things like " I know" or " You can do this" or some other motivational bullshit, that neither one really believed in. He could tell that America appreciated him sitting with him when he clung to him and sobbed into his shoulder, He'd been sitting there holding him for about twenty minutes when he remembered. " Ice cream!". Specs just stared at him like he was crazy. Man, that guy blended into the background really well sometimes. "Austria, I want you to go grab me your best ice cream and bring it in here right now" . Austria gave him a look, but he turned on his heel and went to his freezer. He grabbed some random vanilla ice cream and three bowls, and brought it over to them. Prussia helped the sobbing blonde up to the table, and scooped out some ice cream. America slowly stopped sobbing as hard, and began to eat some of the ice cream. " Well, that's a first." the Prussian thought. He never ate that slowly or deliberately. After about fifteen minutes of that, the American spoke for the first time since the hospital entrance. " Thanks. I don't know what the hell got into me." Prussia spoke next, almost gently. " Bro, as long as you don't go around axe-murdering people, you can react however you need to. There is no shame in crying. " Austria flinched next to him, looking startled. That's kinda weird, he thought. America smiled weakly, replying, " Alright, man. But seriously dude, if I every do any crap like this again, I want you to come up and slap me in the face, alright?" Prussia smiled, and replied playfully "Believe me, I won't hesitate." They laughed for the first time in hours. " I'm going to sleep. Hey Austria? Where am I sleeping, exactly?" Austria got up and led him to his guest room. Prussia poured the He had some things he needed to talk to him about.

Prussia waited until the musician sat back down to start. " This is so fucked up. Are you ok-ish? You've been acting kinda calm." Austria took in a deep breath and replied. "As ok as one can feel when his best friend, the closest thing I have to a cousin, the closest thing I have to a nephew, and his other friend and ally are all dead." He looked like he was about to cry, but he managed to calm himself down. The Prussian nearly cried as well, but he needed to tell him something right now. He took a sip of gin , and said " I thought I'd tell you this know, since I'm already half smashed, and who knows when I'll have this opportunity again. I wanted to thank you for letting me have Hungary after the war." Austria nearly chocked on his drink. Looks like I surprised him, he thought. "Before you say anything, I know exactly what you did, so shut up. You could've stayed with her after your "marriage" dissolved. Everyone expected to. So why did you break up with her? I'd love to know." He watched as he straightened his glasses and sat up. "It was because you loved her more. I loved her, and she loved me. We could have been happy together. But I knew I that you loved each other more, and that you could have something we would never have. So I broke up with her, and told her it was a political move to please my ruler. I said we should remain friends. That's what happened" Prussia was awestruck. He thought that maybe Austria hadn't loved her, or that Hungary had at least helped make the decision. But what he did...that was amazing. " Wow. Not every man, no, not most men would do that. But you did." Austria sat back, looking glad to have been able to tell the story. Prussia pushed again. " But one more question Specs; Did you still love her?" Austria turned his head, almost ashamedly. "I did, for such a long time. But I was ok with that. As long as she was happy, it was all worth it. Whatever I did was for her." And dammit if he wasn't crying again. " Thanks, I'm- just going t-to go to sleep now" He saw Austria pained and pale face as he ran upstairs to a random guest room. He cried into his pillow, and cried until he slowly fell asleep.

Austria felt almost relieved when Prussia ran upstairs. He was going to cry any second now, and he needed to be away from them when it happened. He ran to his bedroom as quickly as he could. He closed the door, and started sobbing. Thank god that my bedroom is so far from the guest rooms, he thought,.He sobbed and weeped and was crying so hard he was out of breath. It sounded like he was screaming in between each labored breath. I need to talk someone, anyone, he thought. A fresh wave of grief hit him when he realized he people he would call were dead , or grieving themselves. Who the hell could he fall? He needed to talk to someone. Now. That's when he remembered Switzerland. He would call him and talk to him sometimes. He was going to be so pissed that he was calling him so late, but he had already dialed the number, and frankly he didn't care. " Hello?! Who the hell is calling so late?" Switzerland said angrily. " He-llo Swit-zer-land. It's Aust-ria" Switzerland's tone immediately softened. " Austria, why are you calling so late? What's going on? " Austria started to cry harder, but he replied as clearly as possible under the circumstances." Rom-ano, Britain, and Ger-many and Hung-ary are all dead. All of them. Oh God Switzerland." Switzerland gasped, and then replied, talking loudly so Austria could hear him over his sobs " Does anyone else know? Do I need to come over there? Do you need anyone?" Austria replied as calmy as possible " As a matter of fact, America, Prussia, Italy, and Spain are all asleep down the hall. They were called to the hospitals to identify there bodies. And-d so was I, but there was traffic, and I walked in and..." He told him the entire story, how Italy had been in denial, that Spain had fainted, that the unshakable Prussia was shaking uncontrollably, that America had withdrawn from the world and come back. He told him how he took them home, on how he hadn't cried until now. He told him until his voice began to give up. He began to wrap it up. " It's so unfair. It's so hard for us to have families, and finally, finally, some of us manage to make them, and they are pulled apart from us." He glanced over at his clock, and realized how late it was. " I'm sorry, I've been talking for nearly an hour. You probably want to sleep." He heard Switzerland breathe in, " No problem. You should sleep though. You are going to have a hard day tomorrow. Don't remind me, he thought. Switzerland hesitated a moment before continuing. " Do you mind if I tell Liechtenstein? I think I woke her up, and she's a very curious person." He sighed, and replied. " It's fine. I'm going to go to sleep. Thanks for listening." " No problem. Don't hesitate to call me." Austria hung up, and laid down in his bed fully dressed. He thought it would take hours to fall asleep, but he feel asleep within moments of putting his head on the pillow. Before drifting off, he realized that two more people now knew, while everyone else was oblivious.

Switzerland sat still as he put the phone down. He realized the graveness of the situation. Never before had so many countries died at the same time, nor had any every died of mortal injuries. He was shaken by his thoughts as his belief that his sister was awake was reinforced." Big brother? What happened? Why did Mr. Austria call so late?" He heard the sleepiness in his sisters voice as she spoke, and considered telling her the next day. He knew that not telling her wouldn't save her any pain so he walked over and sat on her bed. " Earlier today something very bad happened. " He took a deep breath to steady himself. " Britain, Germany, Hungary, and Romano all died. There was a plane accident, and we aren't really sure what happened, but they died." He heard her gasp, and saw tears form in her eyes. " Mr. Austria was upset and wanted to talk to me. America, Prussia, Italy, and Spain are also very upset. I don't think any one else know yet." Liechtenstein began to cry in earnest, and he leaned into her. He felt her shudder when she realized that he was crying as well. They sat that way for hours, until they both fell asleep, clutching each other.


	8. Chapter 8

**Im so sorry, I totally dropped the ball. School kinda got in the way. Anyway, I apologize for any grammar mistakes/ general suckiness. Please R&R. **

Italy awoke the next morning with a mixture of terror and confusion at his surroundings. He bolted upright, and tried to remember where he was. And, oh, did he remember. He remembered. His utter denial the night before, the brutal crushing of his heart as he saw their bodies, and falling asleep in the car. He started to cry as he remembered it all. It's not fair. He thought. None of this is fair. With tears in his eyes, he glanced to the table beside him. On it was an old clock and a handwritten note. " You can stay in bed until 11:30. After that, I will come wake you up. We have many things that we need to do tomorrow. Go to the door on the far left side of the second hallway of the house if you need anything. - Austria." Italy inferred that that meant he was in Austria's house, his childhood home. The room had looked familiar. The clock said that it was 10:09, meaning that he didn't have to get up yet. He changed his mind once he heard the clattering of pans and realized that he smelled pastries baking. He hadn't eaten one of Austria pastries since he was so small, but it was one of the fondness memories of his childhood. Besides...him. The sudden memory made him cry harder. The number of shocking similarities between Germany and Holy Rome had grown in the evening before. They both had icy blue eyes and pale blond hair, they both had lived in the same area, they were both stern and serious, with a softer side, they both had loved him, and they had both left him and died. Not only had they both died, but Miss Hungary, the woman who had essentially raised him, and his one and only brother, Romano, were dead, too. He laid on his back and stared at the ceiling, tears streaming down his face. It seemed like everyone he loved died on him. Grampa Rome, Holy Rome, and now Germany, Fratello, and Hungary were all dead. He sat that way weeping, until he couldn't stand staying in bed any longer. He glanced over at the clock, and realized that it was 11:15. He slowly rolled out of bed, still in his clothes from yesterday. He decided that it would probably best for him to strip to his underclothes for the time being, given that his outer clothes were wrinkled and smelled questionable. He looked in the mirror, hoping to make his face slightly more presentable, even though he knew the others didn't nearly screamed when he saw his brother's face in the mirror. He nearly cried again, but he was able to pull it together. He took a few deep, shaky breaths, and walked downstairs, knowing the way to the dining room by heart. As he walked in he saw that Prussia and America were already there, and he heard Austria bustling in kitchen. Prussia looked pale with dark circles under his eyes( and he looked slightly hungover). America looked tired, but the zombie from the night before was gone. He took a seat, nodding at the others, and getting a "Hey" and another nod in return. He sat in silence for a few minutes until Spain shuffled in, sat down, and put his head in his arms. Spain mumbled, " It wasn't a dream, was it?" Italy's blood ran cold. It wasn't, was it? America glanced nervously at the others before replying. " No, it wasn't." Spain picked his head up, and looked the other man dead in the eye. " Damn." Italy winced. He felt the same. Austria walked into the dining room carrying trays heaped high with pastries, milk, and various juices. "Dig in. We'll plan when you are done."

Spain ate slowly and in silence, not relishing the deliciousness. Everyone, even America, were eating pretty slowly, so it was quite awhile before Austria finally said, " I thought we could start by, I don't know, discussing things, or getting down to planning." Italy sat up nervously, and spoke, a tremble in his voice. " I just wanted to say sorry for being so stupid yesterday. I'm sorry if you got upset." America smiled kindly back at him, and replied almost jovially, " Whatever, man. People react differently to stuff. As a wise man once told me: ' Bro, as long as you don't go around axe-murdering people, you can react however you need to.' ." Spain saw Austria and Prussia give each other a weak smile, whatever that was about. " I mean, don't worry about it, ok?" Italy gave America a gracious smile, and looked significantly happier and at peace under the circumstances. Spain wished that he could feel as happy as he looked, but he knew that that would probably never happen again. Romano was his world. He just knew that he would never, ever be the same. He had a burning question that needed to be answered, so he asked. " Why did they die? I don't mean metaphorically, I mean how come they didn't heal like they are supposed to?" Immediately any emotion on everyone's faces besides sadness and confusion were wiped, causing immense guilt to Spain. Godammit Spain. They were happy, ok not happy, but they weren't swimming in misery until you mentioned you question. He thought. America glanced up, looking mournful again. "Yeah, are we even sure they died? I mean, maybe they'll just come back to life later!" He had a hopeful, almost psychotic look in his eye when he said it, and it almost terrified Spain. He shared a glance with Prussia and Austria; they knew how this kinda things usually worked. Austria finally answered for him," Usually when something like this happens, they come back almost immediately. When countries don't wake up within a few minutes,however...they stay dead." America glanced back at his arms, the gleam in his eyes now replaced with tears while he pouted almost like a child. " Fine. Then what the hell is happening here?" Prussia answered next. " I have no idea. Given I'm basically the professor of " Disappearing and Not Disappearing of Countries 101", I don't think anyone else knows either. I know that their economies had been fine, so I really don't know. I'm sorry, I don't. " Prussia looked at his hands mournfully. The Spaniard himself wanted to cry from the lack of information; he knew that if Prussia didn't know, no one would. America started again, nervously biting his lip. " Ok, so there is this show called Doctor Who. It was, like, one of the favorite shows of Eng-..., anyway, the guy is this alien that can regenerate every time he " dies", except he gets a new face and personality. So in one episode, this girl doesn't turn left, so it effects all of the events in the future. The doctor died, but he died so ridiculously that he couldn't regenerate, so h stayed dead. So, maybe that's it?" America didn't exactly look happy, but he seemed a bit proud of his deduction; Spain couldn't deny that he was impressed. Austria seemed taken aback as well, but he continued in a no-nonsense, business type manner. " Regardless of why, we probably have to discuss other things for a while. We have some "things" to plan. I'm not sure if you remembered, but we have a World Meeting planned at 4:00. " Oh God. He's not serious. Spain thought. His feelings were perfectly rationalized by Italy's squeal of terror, America's utterance of " Shit! ", and Prussia's yell of, " Fuck! I totally forgot!" Spain leaned forward on the table, holding his head in his hands. He could not handle this right now. Austria continued after a moment,when the general protests had died down. " It's the perfect time to tell everyone. I know you don't feel ready. and I certainly don't, but it has to be done. One of us could either announce it, or all of you could do a small piece. Either way, we need to get your stuff from your hotels, presuming the fact that you will most likely be staying here for awhile." Spain sat at him and stared. The musician had really planned this thing out. " Oh, and speaking of which." Austria grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket, and held it out to Italy and America. " I bet there are some people you'd like to call."

Japan was in his hotel room, playing video games with Greece, when he heard his phone buzzing. " One sec. I have to take this." He paused the game, and answered the phone. "Moshi Moshi." He waited for someone to reply, but all he heard was a soft noise in the noise increased in volume quickly, and he was startled to realize it was someone crying."Hello? Who is this? Hello?" He guessed from pitch of the person's voice that it was Italy, adding to his already growing anxiety. He heard a rustling noise, an, " It's ok, I've got this." from an unknown person, and silence following the sobbing. He heard a voice ring out, " Hey Japan. It's America." Japan almost recoiled. In all the years he had known America, he had never sounded so emotionless or unhappy. " Oh. Hello America. Why are you calling? Was that Italy?" " Yeah, that was Italy. He was upset because... Well something bad happened last night." Japan felt his blood run cold. What could this mean? Japan thought. " There was a plane accident, and it's a long story, but Romano, Hungary, England, and Germany are all dead." Japan gasped in horror. All of them? How? " We don't really know why, but I'm sorry. I know you were really close with Germany, and um.. England, and that you were friends with Hungary. Spain, Austria, Prussia, Italy, and I will all be at the meeting to announce and stuff, but we'd thought we'd let you know." Japan sat silently on the other end. He had never had that many friends to begin with, and three of them were dead. He waited a moment before replying. " I'm so sorry. If you need anything, let me know." " I'll let you know, bye Japan." He barely had time to say " Goodbye." before he was disconnected. He sat, staring forward and holding his phone. He felt Greece put a hand on his shoulder. " Japan? What happened?" He turned to face Greece, and realized that tears were streaming down his face. " Oh God. It was that kind of news?" Japan nodded, his face virtually emotionless except for the tears. " Three of my friends, Germany, England, and Hungary, are all dead, Romano too. I barely had any to begin with." His face almost remained blank as Greece hugged him, whispering , " It's ok." , over and over again. Normally people touching him was extremely uncomfortable, but for now it was welcome. That was when his facade completely cracked. He sat with Greece and cried, realizing the anguish the other countries must be feeling, and feeling utterly hopeless at the thought.

America hung up the phone, and took a deep breath. For some reason,the others had some idea that Italy should call and tell Japan. The idea, however, had failed miserably when Italy started sobbing on the phone, leading America to take over. That had sucked. Besides the others, it was the first time he had told any one, and it had fucking ripped him apart. Jesus Christ, he could barely think about it anymore, let alone tell someone. He turned towards the others, and saw them either looking at Italy crying in the chair, or staring at himself expectantly. " I told him. He probably didn't take it super well." Prussia sighed, Austria fidgeted, and Spain mumbled under his breath. " Like any of us did.". America decided to take his chance. " Hey Austria, do you mind if I borrow your phone again? I want to call Canada." He saw Spain, Italy , and Austria stare blankly at him; Prussia however seemed to have an idea of who that was. " My brother. He's directly on top of me." Still more blank looks. " He has a polar bear? Likes maple syrup, pancakes, and red maple leaves?" Yet more blank looks. " Really quiet? Looks like me? The hockey guy? " He heard a chorus of "Ohs" and almost laughed. His brother could be so invisible sometimes. " Yeah. So can I call him? I'll be right back." Austria handed over the phone ,and America quickly went to his temporary room. He dialed the number he had dialed thousands of times before, ingrained into his heart. " Hello?". He was so glad that his brother had answered so quickly." Hey Canada." " Oh God what's wrong?" Canada's voice sounded incredibly worried. " Crap man, that was fast." " What happened?" America sighed. " It's bad, really bad. Aw, shit Canada it's bad." Canada was whispering now. " What happened?" " England's dead. He's dead, I can't fucking handle this." He heard Canada squeal in terror on the other line." Oh god. Oh America. Oh my God." Canada was crying now, but he himself couldn't, not yet. " It's even worse. Hungary, Germany, and Romano are dead too. So Spain, Prussia, Italy, and Austria can't handle this either. It's so hard. We're all at Austria's, and I'm trying to stay strong for them, trying not to be just a puddle, but it's so hard." He was crying now too, dammit. Canada had started crying even harder when he had told the rest of the news, and he heard a familiar voice on the other line asking worriedly why he was crying. Oh, France is there. Well shit. America thought. France wasn't going to take any of this well, and he did not need to deal with this. He heard Canada tell him, 'I'll talk later, be back in a sec,' and he asked America the million dollar question . " Do you want me to come over there?" America honestly could not decide. He wanted his brother there, sure, but he wasn't sure if having him be there with all the others, especially Italy and Prussia, was a good idea. They had lost their brothers, after all He wiped tears from his eyes and tried a light- hearted laugh, although it came off as a sigh of despair. " Nah, it's ok. I'll see you at the meeting anyway. That's when were planning on telling everyone else." Canada paused for a moment. " Are you sure?". " Yeah. But would you do me a favor and tell France for me? I seriously don't want to handle that right now." Canada replied quickly. " Absolutely, just call if you need to talk or anything." " Thanks bro. Love you." "Love you too." He closed the phone and dropped it. He leaned against the wall, and put his head in his arms as he slid down the wall. He sat in a ball on the floor, breathing in and out. I can do this. I'll be their hero. I just gotta keep my shit together, and then...ok, no idea.I'll figure it out later. America thought. He stood up, wiping at his face so he look slightly presentable, and walked back out to his friends. He saw some minor looks of concern, but they really had no room to talk. "Ok, so now Canada and France know. So, what now?" He left it as an open question, but naturally it was Austria who answered. " I thought we could stop by your hotels, and pick up your clothes and luggage. I could take you and Italy, and Prussia could take Spain in his car so it would take shorter. Is that fine?" When no one protested, Austria gestured towards the door, and they left the house behind.

**Please R&R. I'll try to post sooner next time. Also does any one have any cover suggestions.( I mean, what the heck do I put for this?) Also, seriously, review. If you hate it, love it, tolerate it, please review.**


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